[Feb 19th] - Daily News

Today's 3-Minute Digest of the AI Space

Nicolai Kristensen
February 19, 2024

1) FCC makes AI-generated voices in robocalls illegal

2) Reddit has reportedly signed over its content to train AI models

3) Air Canada must pay refund promised by AI chatbot — an otherwise ineligible refund

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Key Points:

As scams through robocalls increase in volume and success rate for the fraudsters, the FCC in Washington made it illegal to use AI-generated voices in robocalls.
Comes after proven success of defrauding others with the technology — for example as an unknown company got defrauded of $41M when scammers impersonated the executive team on a meeting.
“Bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities, and misinform voters. We’re putting the fraudsters behind these robocalls on notice,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

Key Points:

Reddit signed a deal "worth about $60 million on an annualized basis" earlier this year, it reportedly told potential investors ahead of its expected initial public offering (IPO).
Deal has not been confirmed by Reddit.
This is just ahead of Reddit's IPO. According to Bloomberg, Reddit is advised to seek at least $5 billion IPO valuation.
The deal may very well cause more uproar from Reddit users, like it has been seen over the past years after decisions like charging for API access, removing years of chat logs and removing the option to turn off ad personalization.

Key Points:

Air Canada was ordered by a Canadian tribunal to pay a Vancouver man a partial refund for his flight ticket that was promised by the site’s chatbot.
The chatbot had incorrectly stated that the airline offers bereavement fares and that the discount could be received up to 90 days after flying, leading to the customer booking a flight based on this information.
The tribunal ruled in favor of the customer, stating that the airline committed “negligent misrepresentation” and must follow through with the chatbot’s promised discount.
Air Canada argued that the chatbot is a “separate legal entity” to the company and could not be held responsible for its words to customers, but the tribunal rejected this argument and ordered the airline to pay the promised refund plus nominal fees.

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